November 29th, Forest Hall

The traditional end of year celebration of Black Belt and other student achievements was an excellent showcase of Hung Sao Do talent and dedication.

The range of activities and demonstrations were highly entertaining and engaging. The professionalism of the occasion was cemented by the efforts of the various members of Hung Sao Do whose preparation and commitement made this a really great morning. In particular, thanks to Michael Hulme and colleagues for their equipment once again.

There were 22 new black belts today, a couple of 2nd Dans, and a trio of 3rd Dans! So please welcome and congratulate the Class of 2009.

(click image to enlarge)

Back L-R: Janice Lee, Alex Gascoigne (2nd), Gary Lewis (3rd), Noeleen Tracey, Su Sloan, Abbey Leech, Duncan Wallace, Paul Foster, Rachel Turner, Kenny Turner (2nd);
Middle L-R; Susan Rowell, Derek Pearson, Kevin Jackson, Derek Thornton, Andy McLean, Max Lynn, Richard Boyle (3rd), Tracey Bivona (3rd);
Front L-R: Mikey Hegarty, Ben Anderson, Jade Dale, Sam Hulme, James Nicholson, Luca Bivona, Josiah Clark, Cai Younger, Tegan Younger.

See also individual photographs of the 2009 Black Belts.

See all photographs at the Kodak Gallery site.

There were presentations for the new Instructors and Technicians, and the annual Student of the Year and Bob Gee Memorial Awards. Further details of these can be found on the News page.

The morning continued with demontrations of their Black Belt moves by Alex Gascoigne, Richard Boyle and Gary Lewis:

This was followed by a demonstration of fast staff skills by Andrew Venus, and use of the nunchuks by Chris Patterson:

Several students and instructors then took turns to demonstrate breaking techniques, amongst them Mark Roff and Gary Wilson (below). More of the air-breaking techniques may have been successful had Mr Kinkhabwala had a stronger grip! (Only kidding Sir).

There then followed a highly entertaining demonstration of take-down techniques, where Mr Giuseppe Bivona (with help from a few parents) showed some of the other Black Belts just who is in charge!

In a slight departure from tradition, Mr Bivona then invited Hung Sao Do student, turned ABA boxer, Baz Razaq to demonstrate his awesome speed and power in a boxing "training" session. Mr Bivona recently qualified as a trainer/second with the British Boxing Board of Control, and with the upper-body agility and power of Hung Sao Do techniques has helped a number of our students move on to this discipline.

The final part of the session involved the juniors experiencing Sport Chanbara, whilst the Seniors learned some new take-down techniques.

To all students, thank you for your participation, and congratulations to all award winners on the day.

All photographs (good and bad) can be viewed on the Kodak Gallery site. As always, if there is a particular image you would like in it's raw format, please get in touch with Carlton Fletcher via email at carlton@chollerford46.fsnet.co.uk, or ask your instructor.